


Kingdom Pokemon: Side Stories

by madammina



Series: Kingdom Hearts Pokemon AU [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Except Sora, Gen, He's just protecting two people's pokemon, I should put my BBS stuff in here, In that everyone has one non battle pokemon, Mostly just sweet stuff, Still follows Detective Pikachu Rules, They aren't his, This is for the side stories, we shall see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-03-07 15:36:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18876106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madammina/pseuds/madammina
Summary: How did Roxas meet his pokemon?  What about when Ven met Terra and Aqua?  What actually happened when Riku and Sora fought?  And how did that change when they all have their own pokemon?





	1. Roxas Meets Litten

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PoH](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoH/gifts).



“Axel, have you seen Roxas?” 

Axel looked up from where he lay on his couch in the Grey Area. Houndoom was next to him and he was casually petting him as a book he was half paying attention to lay on his lap. 

Above him was Saix and his Midnight Form Lycanroc. Lycanoroc hunkered over on its two legs like some sort of werewolf Igor, perfect for how Saix had been acting these last few years. 

“Nope.” Axel went back to pretending to read the book. “I’m not his babysitter once we RTC.” 

“Well he has disappeared and you were with him last. He doesn’t know how to use Dark Portals yet, so just go back to where you last were and pick him up.” Saix turned, Lycanroc sneered at Houndoom then patted after it’s Partner. 

“Fine.” Axel groaned as he tipped his head back. “C’mon Houndoom. Time to go pick up the Zombie.” 

The Portal opened up in Twilight Town, the only place that Roxas had been for a while. While Axel managed to dodge all manner of adults and children - and made a mental note they REALLY should have outfits prepared in case they had to mix with civilians. The cloaks stuck out like a sore thumb and attracted more attention than just Axel and his houndoom would in a “normal” outfit - but Axel could not find Roxas. 

He went through the tunnels, the shopping mall, the ice cream place 3 times, and broke protocol to ask the ticket seller if he’d seen a lost kid.

Nothing. 

Axel climbed up to the top of the ice cream shop. It would at LEAST give a better view. Houndoom split from him to search lower, and try to pick up Roxas’ scent. 

Roxas was a Zombie. He could barely talk. Why was he lost like this? If he hadn’t RTC’d, he would be in the same place, right? 

“I’m telling you, I saw a kid being swallowed by a shadow!” A short, fat, kid was telling his two friends, a boy, and a girl. 

“Yeah, Pence.” The boy rolled his eyes. “One of your mysteries of Twilight Town.” 

“It would be if it happens a few times, but it was just this blond kid I hadn’t seen before.” 

They all bought ice cream. Axel crouched low, trying to hear better. The heat from the rocklike roof warmed its way through his leather gloves. Did the people here ever sleep if the town was in perpetual twilight? How do you get used to that? He would have to ask Saix about it. Saix was tied to the moon and would know better on Twilight Town’s solar and Lunar quirks. 

“It was over in the forest, the place that heads to that mansion?”

“The one where you swear that five ghosts with masks fight in it every night?” The boy that wasn’t Pence asked. 

Memories of Isa came back. He had a Houndour, Isa had a Rockruff, and every time Lea tried to convince him of some scheme to get into the Castle, Isa would reply in the same tone.

And they would do it later. Once they made “the Necessary Preparations.” Which for Isa was stuff like flashlights and journals to make maps? Lea thought preparations would be cookies and stakes if they ever met vampires.

Which they did, in a way. 

Axel shook his head. Not now, pay attention. 

“And what…” the girl asked. 

“Well, he sat down in the shadow of this tree, he looked like a puppet with its strings cut, and then the shadow from the tree ate him up! He just sunk in and there was nothing left.”

“And what did his Pokemon do?” The Not Pence boy asked. Axel checked. The girl had a Mienshao, Pence had a Drifloon and the Not Pence appeared to have a Gallade. 

“NOthing! That’s what’s weird.” Pence said as he ate the ice cream. “He didn’t have one.” 

“He didn’t have one?” The Girl asked in shock. “Everyone has one! Maybe he lost his?” 

“Or mistreated it.” The Not Pence offered. The girl gave him a small shove. 

“Look, the kid looked like he was a zombie, I doubt he could take care of a pokemon at all.” 

Axel jumped off the top of the ice cream shop as soon as he heard that. He made a point to yell “Parkour!” so people would think he was just a weird parkour person, instead of a weird person who listened to others conversations. A few seconds after he landed on the ground, Houndoom caught up to him. “Come on, boy,” Axel said as they jogged to the back of the space. “Let’s go look in some woods.”

To Axel’s frustration, the entire area was filled with trees. Which Axel should have expected for a forest. 

“Right.” Axel rubbed his hair. “I’m a Nobody, you are a Dark Type. We can figure this out, right?” 

Houndoom gave a growl. And then began to sniff the ground. 

“Or we could just do that, right.” Axel followed behind Houndoom until Houndoom found the tree Roxas sat under. It was towards the middle of the forest and would get some nice sunlight depending on the time of day. 

Axel sighed and pressed his gloved hands onto the ground. Nobodies could feel physical sensations, but they couldn’t care… supposedly. 

But something within him ached to feel the grass under his hands. 

The dark portal opened, beneath them, and Axel and Houndoom fell from their perch in Twilight Town into a sandy bar. It was early evening here, and no light pollution meant the stars were the clearest Axel had ever seen. Radiant Gardens always had lights on, and Axel had no clue who lived in The Dark City That Didn’t Live Up To Its Name. 

Houndoom blended into the darkness, and Axel tracked him only by the sound of his footprints on the beach as night fell quickly. 

“Roxas?” Axel whispered. “Roxas, are you here?” He glanced over at Houndoom. The stars reflected in Houndoom’s eyes, letting him know that he was looking back. “Roxas…” 

The two traveled all over the beach as Axel slowly realized it was an island. There were a few wooden structures and a smaller island connected to the larger one by a bridge. Axel scoured the island and the cave nearby, before starting out to the mini island.

He finally found Roxas, sitting on the bow of a tree. In his lap was some sort of cat.

“Roxas. There you are.” Axel sighed. “I’ve been looking for you.” 

“I couldn’t move,” Roxas said. Axel stopped.

“Did…. did you just talk?” 

“I fell here, and this cat came and I couldn’t leave it,” Roxas said slowly. Axel sighed and went over to branch to lean on it. Houndoom stayed just behind, letting Axel rub between his ears. “What is it?” 

“Well, it appears you bonded with your Pokemon,” Axel said as he looked at it. “I have no clue what it is though. Come on, let’s RTC.” 

“I like it here,” Roxas said as he looked up. The moon glowed. “What is that?”

“It’s a Moon.” Axel glanced out over the sea that lapped up on the little island. He could smell the sea, a scent he had only smelt a few times before. The wind carried salt air through the rustling trees and a few ropes hit against creaking wood. But as they wait there, the air suddenly turned heavy. 

“We have to go, a storm is coming. And I have a fire type pokemon, we need to go.” 

Roxas seemed to frown as clouds covered the moon, but soon the Darkness swallowed the four of them. 

As they came out in the Gray Area, Xemnas was waiting there. He opened his mouth, stopped and stared at the pokemon that Roxas still kept on his lap. Roxas stayed sitting on the floor, the cat pokemon still sitting there. It was a pure black cat, except for gray insides of his ears and a few red stripes. It was at most a foot high, and when it yawned it had sharp teeth. 

 

“Why do you have a Litten?” Xemnas finally said. 

“It’s called Litten?” Roxas asked, then went back to stroking it’s back. “Hello, Litten.” 

Litten meowed. Axel tried to keep from sneezing. He was allergic to cats. Great. 

“They are also notoriously picky,” Xemnas replied. His own pokemon, a Sandygast, lazily sat behind Xemnas. Sandygast may look like a Sandcastle, but Axel knew what it was like to be caught in its grip. It liked to try to possess people so they would be compelled to add sand to it. After a few times, Sandygast realized the Castle That Never Was had no sand and had given up. 

“He’s good.” Roxas insisted. “I’m going to sit here for a while.”

“You have duties in four hours and need sleep,” Saix said as he came in from a side room. His Lycanroc snorted, and Litten got up from Roxas’ lap. 

“No, Litten!” Roxas said, and tried to crawl over to Litten. “Come back, please!” 

Litten ignored him. Litten went up to the Lycanroc, then swatted it across the nose. 

Lycanroc swiped, Litten somehow got up onto a bookshelf Axel had never noticed, Houndoom dove under a table and it took Xemnas’ invisible walls to get everyone and their pokemon sorted out. 

Okay, Axel would tolerate Litten. Which is why Axel was the one to escort Roxas and his Litten back to his room. Litten had decided to rest in Roxas’ hood. If it was strangling him, Roxas said nothing.

“How did you meet Houndoom?” Roxas finally asked. 

“Well, it was a Houndour then,” Axel said and then reached back to pet his Houndoom. “I found him skulking around the back of my house. I gave it some food and that was that.” He looked back. “He’s been a better friend that I could ask for, or have.” 

“Oh.” Roxas let Litten still stay there. “Do you think Litten and I will be like that?” 

“Someday. If you can find the right way to get to know them.” Axel opened the door and stopped. “Right, we are going shopping tomorrow.’

“Why?” Roxas asked. Litten had jumped from the hood and was examing Roxas’ absolutely bare room. 

“Because you do not want to know what happens with a bored cat.” Axel blinked, memories of a rogue Delcatty rushing back. 

 

“Okay.” Roxas nodded. “Tomorrow.”  
****

The next day, Roxas walked into the Gray Area to find Axel arguing with Saix AND Xemnas. Houndoom sat next to Axel, Lycanoroc hunched by Saix and Sandygast was presumably behind Xemnas as always.

“I KNOW what the cloaks are for. I’m not saying “Let’s never wear cloaks again”. What I’m saying is that there will be times when we HAVE to interact with people. Or we’ll get spotted as we skulk around. So going around in normal clothes for the world means that we aren’t going to be the weirdo wearing the black cloak to ask if people had disappeared. We’ll be the tourist or person they haven’t seen before but who clearly lives there asking if we had heard the rumors. Still odd, but not AS odd as someone who came out of “Dr. Evil’s Book of Mind Control and Other Assorted Tales.” 

Roxas watched as Saix turned away and covered his mouth as he coughed a slightly fake sounding cough. After that, Axel relaxed a little. 

“How about a test.” He finally said. Xemnas tilted his head. 

“Roxas’ Litten will need a few necessities. Food, climbing equipment, and so on. We’ll go to Twilight Town, bring “normal” clothes and see what happens. We will still use the cloaks to transport and all that, but normal when we are buying things.” 

“A fair test.” Xemnas intoned. “If you do not attract unnecessary questions, I will consider it going forward.”

“After you do the mission for today,” Saix said as he pulled out his clipboard. Axel sighed.

“Yeah, yeah.” 

***  
Roxas thought their mission was fairly light today. Just go around a small area of Twilight town and beat 20 Heartless. Litten spent his time curled into something Axel gave him called a “Backpack.” 

“You put supplies and stuff in here so you don’t have to hold them and your hands are free,” Axel said. He was kneeling in front of Roxas and was adjusting the straps so it hung just right over his back. 

“Oh,” Roxas said. “This seems new.” 

“Well, that happens,” Axel said. “Especially for you zombie types. “ He finished and stood up before slinging his own backpack over one shoulder.

“Wow… that looks better.” Roxas said in awe. Axel ruffled his hair. 

“Just for EXPERT backpack wearers. You can do that if you practice.” Axel said and opened the portal.  
***  
After about an hour, Roxas vanquished the last heartless and watched as its heart floated away to who knows where. 

“Okay, let’s go get changed,” Axel said and went into the subway tunnels. “You can’t change out in public Roxas!” He shouted without ever turning around.

“Why?” Roxas asked as he stopped unzipping his cloak than ran after Axel.

“Most people don’t want to see other people naked,” Axel replied. “Especially just stumbling onto a naked person. Now, what cultures consider “Naked” varies. I’m sure in some world we would be considered indecent as we are now.” 

“Oh.” Roxas frowned. “I don’t know how to put on clothes.” 

Axel sighed, then rubbed the back of his head. 

“Let me get changed first.”  
***  
It wasn’t the most comfortable thing changing in the underground system, but they managed it. Roxas turned around for Axel and spent his time petting Litten, who was either sleeping or pretending to be asleep. Roxas couldn’t tell. Houndoom lay down on the ground, panting gently as he waited. 

“Here you go, buddy,” Axel said as he gave Houndoom a treat. “Watch over Litten for a sec, will ya?” 

After quickly explaining what “Pants” were and helping Roxas with some buttons (and just tying his shoes. He just looked at the sneakers, went “it’s not worth it” and did it.), both were ready to head out. Axel in jeans and a red T-shirt that read “Burning Up” on it. He kept the Org boots. Roxas also wore Jeans and a button-up checkered shirt. 

“Okay, hopefully, we should blend in,” Axel said as they made their way to the pet and Pokemon store. “Come on.” 

Axel picked the one with the rather large door. Any questions on why the door was that big were answered when the pet store owner and her Onyx greeted them. 

“Oh.” Was all Roxas said? “I have a cat?” Axel facepalmed. 

“My brother just bonded with his pokemon yesterday. The stuff for my Houndoom won’t work....” he trailed off. The pet store owner nodded. 

“I know what you mean. Back here we have stuff for more common sizes and shapes of Pokemon.” 

Roxas kept Litten curled in his arms as they made their way to the back of the store. It was covered in climbing equipment, there was a whole wall covered in food bowls, and so many different kinds of toys Roxas quickly lost count. 

Though, to be fair, Axel wasn’t sure how high Roxas could count. Still, Axel was impressed too. 

“I don’t know how much my brother can keep Litten company. Our-” Axel face set and looked back at Roxas “parents - like to keep us busy.”

PLEASE Let none of this make it back to Saix. Or Xigbar. Neither of them would EVER let Axel live this down. 

And that would force Larxene to be his mom! She would ABSOLUTELY never let Axel live this down. 

“I understand.” The lady said. “Though the... Litten, you said? does seem a bit clingy.” 

“So far it only likes my brother.’ Axel replied. “Though who knows if that will change.” 

“WOW.” Roxas was saying. “Look at all of this Litten!” Litten made a noise and jumped onto one of the climbing platforms. Within a few minutes, he was running up and down and crossing bridges. 

Axel quickly started counting up his Munny. 

“Roxas, let’s look at food and bowls first, okay?” He shouted. “We can come back for more entertainment later, and I’ll teach you how to make some, but let’s do food first.” 

“Actually.” The lady pulled out a small ball. “I have toys with food inside of them. And other bowls that make cats solve puzzles to get food. We’ll add that to the bowl and we’ll look at other toys after that?” 

Axel mouthed Thank you as Roxas dove into picking colors. Every time he found one he liked, he brought it over to Litten who would either approve or ignore it.

“So, an Onyx, huh?” Axel finally asked. She laughed. 

“Yeah. I like to hike and I fell down a ravine during a freak storm one day. Onyx fought through it to rescue me and we’ve been together ever since.” She patted Onyx on his side, who gave a sound like rocks rolling downhill. “You?”

“Found him as a Houndour behind my house,” Axel said, side-eyeing some dog toys. “This is some sort of trap, right?”

“You’re falling for it.” She said with a grin. “Come on, let’s look at the dog toys too.” 

The Organization let their members keep the munny, and Axel only spent it on potions and ice cream, so at the end of the day Litten and Houndoom made out like bandits. 

“No Ice Cream for a week,” Axel muttered as he staggered under the weight. But one glance back at Roxas made him remember what happy felt like. Roxas had an Honest to Kingdom Hearts grin on his face as he gently fed treats to Litten. He was carrying a bowl, some food, some treats, and a few small toys like plush mice filled with catnip and little balls you could put a treat into so Litten could hunt it. 

Axel carried his own dog treats, a ball, a frisbee, and a few ropes and chewing toys. But the big get was Litten’s climbing… apparatus. Five feet tall, rope bridges, platforms, and so many other things that any cat would want to explore, and Litten was happy with it.

It also cost half of Axel’s munny. But that Delcatty kept him from complaining. His neighbor had a delcatty and if it wasn’t entertained it would throw a fit. 

Better safe than Sorry. 

“Okay, cloaks on.” Axel sighed as he put the stuff down. A few minutes of adjusting and both Axel and Roxas wore their cloaks over their new clothes. Carrying all their stuff they warped back to The Gray Area.

 

“You were gone a while,” Larxene said as her Galvantula wove a web. The dusks hated it. 

“We had to run errands,” Axel said. “I need to get this set up in Roxas’ room. 

“Oooh. Fun.” Larxene said in a tone that did not sound fun at all. “Whatever, I was told to remind you about the report.” 

Houndoom panted next to Axel, looking hopeful. Roxas looked thoughtful.

“Axel, what are parents?”

Axel turned pale, then hurried Axel and Litten down the hall. Houndoom followed, whining slightly. 

“I’ll tell you in a second.” 

***  
Roxas listened as Axel explained what parents were as he set up the play area. It took up half of Roxas’ room. Litten didn’t care and rushed off to climb on it. Roxas sat on his bed and watched. Axel took out one of the chewing dinosaurs he found and threw it to Houndoom, who instantly set on it. 

“I like Litten.” Roxas finally said. “And he likes me.”

“Good,” Axel replied and didn’t have the heart to tell Roxas he couldn’t feel anything. “We’ll see if he likes anyone else though.” 

“It doesn’t matter.” Roxas flopped down and adjusted himself so he could lay on his bed. The cat bed was off in a corner, but it looked like Litten would claim one of the platforms as his bed instead. “Litten and I like each other. That is what matters.”


	2. Ventus' Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the Birth By Sleep crew! Now that I have everyone's picked out. Also, they are a few years younger than their in-game models show.

Aqua swung around her keyblade as her newly evolved Milotic watched the proceedings. Nestled in her coils, Terra’s Absol slept. Terra was across from her, also swinging his keyblade. 

Aqua had been here longer than Terra, who had shown up only a year or so ago. Aqua wasn’t sure where she was from, to be honest. Sometimes, though, she dreamed of a castle of seashells under the sea as she swam with mermaids. She was a mermaid too in these dreams. And it felt like home.

And then she woke up. 

Terra knew where he was from, he hadn’t told her yet, but he knew. He said he wasn’t sure if telling her would violate the world border. 

Whatever had happened, Master Eraqus had swooped in as soon as Terra had manifested a keyblade. Aqua always had hers, as far as she could remember. 

They hadn’t fought yet, but soon. Now she was working on her agility and magic, dancing helped out so much with that, and Terra was still learning the basics. 

They were practicing inside today. Milotic was giving off a soft humming noise as the two humans began to haphazardly their keyblades around. The bright sun streamed through the windows as they finished their warm-ups and moved into more concrete movements. If you went slower, you had control. Faster could mean more power. You had to find a balance. 

The two had not gotten far before Absol perked up and looked towards the door. They both pretended to keep on practicing, but Terra abandoned that first when two people came through the door.

One was an old man with a Shiinotic. Aqua had seen him before but not for years. That was Master Xehanort. The other boy she didn’t know. He was blonde, and his eyes were blank. He just held onto his Eevee as tight as he could, and did nothing else.

Master Eraqus and his Aegislash came over first. Aegislash and Shiinotic eyed each other, then followed their humans as they went off to talk, leaving the boy still standing there, not even petting the Eevee, staring straight ahead. Eevee was nudging his face, but he didn’t respond. 

Terra moved first, catapulting over the rails to land on the floor. Absol landed lightly after him. Aqua rolled her eyes. She got on Milotic, who gently floated her down to the floor. 

“Hey,” Terra said as he knelt down to look at the boy. “I’m Terra, what’s your name?” 

“... Ventus…” the boy said as if it was pulled from his throat. Eevee perked up and began to make happy noises as it pushed its nose into Ven’s face. 

“Oh, good. You can talk.” Terra smiled. “Aqua! Oh, there you are. Aqua, meet Ventus.” 

“Hi, Ventus,” Aqua said as she leaned towards him. “I’m Aqua.” 

“Terra… Aqua…” Ventus repeated as if he was chiseling it into stone. Eevee managed to leave Ven’s arms and went to sit on his head. It made happy noises as it flicked its ears. Milotic leaned over Aqua to bump noses with Eevee and Absol went to stand next to Ven. 

“So, are you here to train with us? Where are you from? Are you good with a keyblade? Who was that man?” Terra asked. He took a breath and opened his mouth to ask another question, right as Aqua turned to him to answer that last one. 

Neither of them could speak though, as Ven suddenly collapsed to the ground, held his head, and began to scream. 

Eevee jumped off and began to nose his face again, in a worried gesture. Milotic made a humming noise and began to send out calming waves. Milotic rested her head on Aqua’s shoulder as Ven began to calm down. He sat on the floor, not moving, barely breathing, as Milotic’s calming waves washed over him. Eevee went and curled up beneath him, Absol joining Eevee. 

“WHAT DID YOU DO?” Master Eraqus stormed out of the nearby room, Master Xehanort behind him. 

“NOTHING!” Terra stepped back with his hands raised, Absol rushed over next to him to provide support. Xehanort leaned down next to Ven to pat his shoulder, and Aqua could have sworn Eevee became defensive. “I just asked Ventus a few questions!”

“Ventus cannot answer them… because he can not remember anything.” Eraqus said. 

They were told to go back to their rooms after that. IT couldn’t work though, as Aqua’s was being renovated to expand the pool so Milotic could rest in there now. So, she went outside, and Milotic followed. While the Land of Departure was filled with castles so far away, as far as Aqua knew they had the only one that was lived in. But they had a lot of space and greenery. With trees and wide patios and 

To not remember anything… was it different from not knowing? What had happened that caused Ventus to lose his memory? Could it come back? What about Eevee? 

“We’re going to help him, right?” Terra said from behind her. She turned and found him leaning up against a tree. There was a twig stuck in his hair and Aqua suddenly remembered the very large tree outside of Terra’s window. “I snuck out.” 

“Yeah. We’re going to help.” Aqua said with a grin. “He needs to wake up first though so that gives us time to plan.”

“That’s if he’s staying here,” Terra said. He nodded to Absol, who ran off to fetch an apple that was growing nearby. 

“He’s staying here,” Aqua said. Milotic slid into the nearby pond. She was way too big for it, but she just seemed to sigh in contentment and lay her head on the grass. Absol gave Terra the fruit and ran off to sit next to her in the sun. “Master Eraqus took in me and you, he’s going to take in Ven.”

“And if he doesn’t, we’ll work out a way to keep him here,” Terra said as he put his hand out. Aqua took it, and the shook. 

“Agreed,” Aqua said. “So, what should we do when he wakes up?” 

“Well,” Terra began to walk around. “We need to figure out where he’s from, what he needs, and so on. Once we know that, we can make him feel more at home!” 

“And if he still doesn’t remember anything?” Aqua asked. She was smiling though. She knew the answer.

“We do what makes him feel the most comfortable here anyway!” Terra said, echoing her thoughts. 

“We should take him to the library first, I think. Maybe a book there can remind him of something.” Aqua offered. Terra nodded. 

“And we can bring snacks and stuff! Maybe a sleep over?” 

“That was my idea!” Aqua said, then began to giggle. “Oh! We should make blankets and stuff.” 

“Yeah!” 

“Terra! Aqua!” Master Eraqus called out from the castle. Terra and Aqua looked at each other, and Terra fled back to his room. 

Aqua waited until he was gone before calling out “I’m out here, Master!” 

“Oh, good.” Eraqus and Aegislash came from the castle. “I’m sorry, I forgot about the room thing. Ven is in one of the empty rooms now, Master Xehanort has left him with his. He says he needs to look for something but should return in a few days.” 

“Will he take Ventus then? Aqua asked. Milotic lifted up her head and made a soft noise. 

“No, Ventus is staying here for the foreseeable future.” Master Eraqus said as he put a hand on her shoulder. “Will you help me take care of him?”

“Of course!” Aqua replied. Milotic slithered out of the pool and wrapped herself around Aqua. “Milotic too!” 

“Good. I’ll let Terra get back to his room before I ask him.” Eraqus said. Aegislash continued to float behind Eraqus. “Thank you, Aqua.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headcanon: Aqua is one of Triton's daughters. Eraqus and Xehanort visited Atlantica and found out she was proficient with a keyblade. One thing leads to another and they kidnapped her as a young child, her mother died trying to get Aqua back, and this is why Triton knows about keyblades and hates them. 
> 
> As for Eevee, I'm not sure this Eevee is from KHUX or he got a new one.


	3. Repliku's home

The Riku Replica stood in the center of Halloween town. Namine - in her maybe not infinite wisdom or patience - had sent him to this world. Something about how “Pikachu and Mimikyu have to stop competing while I am rearranging memories and you also keep on trying to one-up Riku so just go here.” 

Actually, she had sent him off with a mission. Something about how there was someone he needed to meet in this world. She’d just given him a name and told him to go as he was. 

That last part was clearly a prank, as the first being he had met was a 7-foot tall skeleton. And even if he hadn’t met the skeleton, the use of jack o lanterns to light everything should have been a huge tip-off.

“I know you’re from the human world.” The skeleton said as he turned around. Bones should not move like that, but they did as the skeleton walked over. Repliku’s Pikachu sat on his shoulder, staring at a point over the skeleton’s shoulder where a flying pumpkin hovered. Then a ghost popped out and shouted “Pumpkaboo!” 

“Uhh…” Repliku paused. Can you break the world order if someone already knows?

“So, what are you doing here?” The skeleton asked, his bony fingers twitched. “Do we have a trespasser?” 

“JACK!” A voice shouted. Both turned to see some sort of moving doll come from a door, her banette floating behind her. “Please stop scaring the child. If he fell through a door, then he’s not scared in a fun way.”

“You’re right, Sally.” Jack the Skeleton said and hung his head. Then he straightened up and gave a sincere smile. “So, let’s try this again! I’m Jack Skellington, did you fall through a door, little living human?”

“Actually,” Repliku held out a slip of paper. “I’m looking for Sally.”   
***  
A few minutes later, Repliku was sent into the living room - for lack of a better word - of Jack’s house. Three chairs were set up around a roundtable and Sally placed a large mug of a warm, brown liquid with white foam on top in front of him, with a smaller one in front of Pikachu. 

“It’s hot chocolate.” She explained as she sat down at another chair. 

“HUMAN! Hot Chocolate.” Jack clarified as he took the third chair. “After Sora visited here and then everything with Sandy Claws, I figured that the polite thing would be to have some food that guests could eat.” He produced a tray of cookies, which Pikachu tentatively began to eat. 

“So, you needed to talk to me?” Sally asked. “Why? How do you know I’m here?”

“I can’t go into all the details, but I do know Sora. I was…” He paused and began to bite his lip. Sally gave a nod. 

“Jack, can you go into the cemetery? I need some flowers from by Oogies mansion. The blue ones.” 

“Of course!” Jack got up, grabbed a basket - that Pumpkaboo sat in with a giggle - and walked out the door. 

He also promptly went to get Zero to go play fetch. There were codes Sally had developed over the years. And this was one of them. She just needed him to leave for a while, she would search him out. 

“You were created?” Sally offered, back in Jack’s house. Repliku began to nod, and a tear dripped down his cheek that he wiped away. “So, that’s why you were looking for me.”

“Do you consider yourself real?” Repliku blurted out. “I… I can see all the stitching and I don’t have that but I don’t know what I look like and-”

 

Sally leaned over and placed her hand on Repliku’s. “You are fine.”

“Are we real? Do we have hearts?” Repliku asked again. Sally nodded. 

“Just by asking that question, you prove you do.” She replied. “What do you call yourself?”

“... I’ve just been going by Repliku or Replica Riku.” He replied. “I mostly just keep a promise by standing guard over someone. I don’t need a name for that really.”   
****  
“We need to do something right now,” Sally said, in a serious tone. Jack took his rib from Zero and looked back at her, she never talked like that. 

“What can we do?” Jack asked. “He’s from the human world.”

“He’s from another world, like Sora. And no one is treating him right.” Sally clenched her fists and Banette mimicked it behind her. “At the very least Dr. Finkelstein gave me a NAME.” 

“He doesn’t have a NAME?” Jack almost dropped his rib. Pumpkaboo left the basket to head to his shoulders. 

“No! No real memories, no family, no one cares for him. There is some girl named Namine who I think does kinda care for him, but she is very busy right now doing something important so she can’t pay attention to him.”

“And I take it he’s not like anyone else?”

“He’s… sort of a doll, like me.” Sally ran back over his trying to explain it. He didn’t understand it himself though, so they both gave up. “But I’m made from parts. He was designed to look like someone else.”

“Does that someone else like him?” Jack asked. Sally paused. 

“I think the two of them aren’t talking right now.” She finally decided. He was a bit cagey on that front. “He called the person he’s a copy of “Emo.” I don’t know what that means.”

“I do.” Jack gave a nod. “Talk to him some more, I have an idea.”   
***  
“I mean, I just showed up one day, but I have Riku’s memories,” Repliku said as he walked around the living room. Sally was sewing something and listening. “At least I think I have Riku’s memories. At the very least they are the memories given to me to make me think Riku made a promise to Namine and I’m fulfilling it now? But does that lead to any of my actions being my own? “ Repliku sat down on a chair a bit harder than he intended. “I don’t have any previous memories so Namine reverting them is useless and I’d probably forget Sora, but…”

“It took me a while,” Sally said. “After all, people like to reflect on what has happened to them.”

“Namine’s life stinks too,” Repliku muttered. “She needs to resort Sora’s memories, but she was born I guess, then Marluxia kidnapped her and made her rewrite Sora’s memories, then she needs to return them and I’m the only one she really talks to. Aside from Actual Riku and DiZ sometimes. And both of those are about business.”

“You’ll have a story to tell her now.” Sally offered. “Does your hair grow?”

“... I don’t know?” Repliku turned to look at her, and Pikachu mimicked his position. “I’m only a few weeks old I guess.” 

“Dr. Finkelstein wanted a daughter and housekeeper. When I was your age, I was learning how to clean and cook,” Sally said as she went back to sewing. “I like to sew, but it’s also very useful to repair myself.” 

“I wonder if I can get hurt?” Repliku asked as he looked at his hands. “Also, you shouldn’t be used like that! I know how it feels to be created to just do something and it’s-” The door slammed open, and Jack ducked into the room. 

“He’s getting busy, but we can go now. Come on!” Jack grabbed Repliku and began to pull him out the door. Sally sighed, gathered Pikachu in her arms, and followed Jack at a steady distance. 

Jack walked for a while until they arrived at a circle of trees, each with a design on the center. 

“Jack…” Sally sighed. Jack practically dropped Repliku and hurried over to Sally. 

“It’s not what you think, don’t worry! This is a not directly Christmas thing I needed his help with! And he said yes!” Jack straightened up to his full height with a smile. “You can come too! And the pokemon! Don’t worry about it!” And with that, Jack opened the tree with another tree on it. Snow and wind poured out and pulled them all through. 

Repliku landed face first in what Riku’s memories said was snow, but what snow was, or how Riku knew about it from being on an island was unclear. The weather was a bit nippy, but not cold. As Repliku looked up, he found himself looking at a squat man dressed in red. His Partner was a Delibird, but there was a Stantler behind him too. 

“You’re the one Jack asked me to help?” The man said as he knelt down in front of Repliku. “He’s right, you’re not Riku. Oh, I should introduce myself then, I’m Santa Claus.”   
***  
“Holiday spirits aren’t really supposed to mix like this.” Santa sighed as Mrs Claus placed hot chocolate in front of everyone again. Repliku took a sip and found he liked it much better than Sally’s. “With that being said, I think our two holidays tend to have some… time-sharing.” 

Jack gave a noncommittal nod of his head. Sally was looking at something off in the corner, then stood up to talk to Mrs. Claus. 

“So, You who have yet to decide your name, do you know why you’re here?”

“Or what Christmas is,” Jack added in. Santa looked at him. “Which I will NOT try to explain, and let Sandy Claws explain instead.” 

“Riku’s memories say it’s a holiday where some say it’s to give presents and others say it’s to celebrate someone’s birth? But it’s not a birthday and his memories are more focused on the present thing. OH! And he thinks you don’t exist?” Pikachu did what Repliku couldn’t without being impolite, and tilted his head in confusion. Santa chuckled.

“It commonly hits kids around Riku’s age. And that’s not completely correct, but it’s easy enough to work with. Sally?” 

“MERRY CHRISTMAS!” 

Sally came out of the kitchen, carrying a package. Repliku had a memory of Riku opening packages by tearing off some paper, so Repliku did the same. Sally sent over to sit by Jack, smiling. 

Inside was a set of clothes, ones that were closer in style to those in Halloween town, and a sheet of paper. 

“Let me add to this,” Santa said and pulled out a giant book. “Normally, this is given ON Christmas, but there are enough circumstances I’ll let it slide.” 

“In this is every single male name ever in recorded history,” Santa said. “Which is why Jack came to me. This is information Santa has that Halloween does not. You’ll need to pick one.”

“Why?” Repliku asked as he reached for the paper. On the top was written “Adoption papers.” “What does that mean?” 

“It means we want you to be our kid!” Jack said cheerfully. 

“I… I just met you. Literally today.” Repliku said as he read the paper. “And just because Namine sent me here.” 

“Well, us puppets have to stick together,” Sally said with a smile. “With that being said, there are rules.” 

“Yes. Which is partly why we are here for now.” Santa frowned. “If they adopt you, you will become a permanent resident of Halloween town, which is it’s own world.” 

“And while we can leave for Halloween, we can’t leave outside of that. We have a job then.” Jack said solemnly. 

“So I would have to live here.” Repliku sat back. “I couldn’t leave? Even to protect Namine?” 

“No,” Sally said. “You will also need to physically change. We can cast a spell to see what you would turn into, but when you are adopted that shape will be permanent.” 

“So… on the one hand, I get a family and a home that Riku doesn’t have…. But to do that I have to give up what identity I have now?” Repliku looked up. “Someone needs to protect Namine, I promised Sora that. And… and I don’t know if I trust Riku and-” Pikachu climbed up and began to pat Repliku on his back. “I don’t know you guys either!” 

“Normally, I’d vouch for them,” Santa said as he leaned back and stroked his beard. “ but you don’t know me and Jack has done things in the past.”

“... I took over his holiday.” Jack muttered. Pumpkaboo decided to try to sit in his hot chocolate, then decided it was too hot and moved back to his shoulder, soaking it in milk. “We set it right though!” 

“That’s true. And he made that decision on his own.” Santa agreed. “I understand it’s a lot.” 

“... No one has ever done something like this.” Repliku muttered as he looked at the clothes, just his size. “Or.. or knew how I felt about being created.” The clothes were long pants, a bit baggy, and a shirt that had a collar. The pants were black with little bat patterns on them, and the shirt had a pumpkin design sewn into the collar. “Can I think about it?” 

“Of course,” Jack said. “You need a name anyway.” 

“At least consider it a Christmas present from us,” Sally said. Banette nodded. 

“Because… because I do want to. Just… I can’t right now.” Pikachu dove into the box and came out with a witches’ hat and a cape for him to wear. “Namine and Sora need me.” 

“Well, you know where to find us,” Jack said. “And Halloween is coming up in-” He pulled a calendar out from a pocket somewhere “Ten months.” 

“That won’t be enough,” Repliku muttered. “There is a… a large picture here and-”

“You won’t have to make a final decision until after Xehanort is defeated.” Santa shook his head. “He’s forced enough people onto the naughty list.”

“Xehanort?” Repliku looked up, but Santa suddenly shifted positions. 

“Okay, Jack and Sally, I love having you over sometimes, but I have a holiday to finish up!” Santa began to push them out of the kitchen door. 

“Bye Cosette!” Sally managed to yell out before the door closed. 

Snow fell as Repliku walked along in silence. He still carried the book and clothes, and Pikachu, Pumpkaboo, and Banette played in the snow below his feet.

“I don’t know what to do…” Repliku said, tears starting to come to his eyes. “I don’t… what do you do when people give you things?”

“My research said you say MERRY CHRISTMAS! Or thank you, depending on the reason.” Jack said matter of factually. Sally shook her head. 

“A thank you is enough.” She said softly. “I talked to Cosette too. She said that if you ever wanted to talk to me, but couldn’t come to Halloweentown, just leave a letter on your window sill. She’ll get it to me.” 

“Namine is the only thing I have that’s… that’s real. And that’s built partly on lies.” Repliku said again as he looked at the clothes. “I can’t leave that behind. And I don’t know you well enough to know if you are being honest.” 

They had arrived at the tree. Jack, a true gentleman, opened up the door. 

“We can talk about it in town,” Jack said. Repliku jumped through. 

***  
“We don’t want a decision now.” Sally said, kneeling in front of Repliku. “Don’t worry about it. I probably moved too soon anyway.” 

“You just wanted me to know you understood,” Repliku said slowly, working out the answer. She nodded. “I’m… I’m not averse to the idea. I just can’t make it official and-”

“Well, you need a NAME,” Jack said. “Write letters, and we’ll talk about it once you have a name.” 

“Can I call you mom and dad in the meantime?” Repliku asked softly. Jack couldn’t blush, but Sally could. 

“Of course you can, dear.” Sally said and kissed his forehead. “And you and Namine can ask me questions on ANYTHING.” 

“Do you want to see what you would be?” Jack asked. Repliku gave a tentative nod. A sweep of a bony hand, and spirits rushed Repliku. And when they left, a large, stone, creature with wings stood in his place.

“A GARGOYLE!” Jack almost shrieked. 

“A protector,” Sally explained. “They guard places that people seek refuge. I think it suits you.” 

“I think it does too,” Jack said. “Also Pikachu can’t shock you.”

“He never does.” Repliku leaned down, and as his stone joints grinded, Pikachu hopped up on his arm and ran up. “Thank you.”

“Actually, I have one more gift,” Sally said as she pulled out scissors. “Do you want a haircut? Between a haircut, and the clothes, you’ll look different from Riku.” 

“Yes.” He looked over at Sally, his stone eyes shimmering. “And can Pikachu have one too?”

“Of course.” She said and walked over to pat Pikachu’s head. “Jack?”

The illusion disappeared, and Repliku was back to how he was.

**  
“Did you find her?” Namine asked as soon as she heard the portal open. Riku was in the room with her today. Sometimes she would ask about a memory, but Riku never really responded. 

Namine turned and saw…

Well, that should be Repliku.

But between the new, spooky,outfit and the very short haircut he looked different too. Pikachu had a bit of a mohawk and Repliku carried a giant book.

“Santa Clause says hi!” Repliku said with a massive grin. “Also, I’m going to be adopted when all this clears up! If you have anything you want to ask Sally, Namine, if you give me a letter and I put it on my windowsill Mrs. Claus will get it to Sally! Now, I need to go put this book of every single male name ever into my room and then I’ll be right back.” 

And, almost skipping, Repliku left.

“... What happened.” Riku finally said. Mimikyu tilted its head and Smeargle went back to the drawing of it and Namine running through a field. 

“... I think he found Sally.” Namine replied. “I’m not sure who Santa is though.”

Riku leaned back and hit the back of his head on the wall. 

 

“Oh, Sora will never let me hear the end of this.” He muttered. 

“And I won’t either!” Repliku promised as he came back into the room. “I have a LOT of stories to tell…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween!


End file.
